vintage and contemporary postcards and stamps from around the world


20 September 2015

Sunday Stamps II - 40

issued August, 1959
Designed by artist Robert Foster with a modern oil derrick to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first commercial oil well drilled in the US (the Drake's Well). Despite intense lobbying by oil historians and the petroleum industry, this is the only commemorative oil stamp USPS has produced. In 1959, at the stamp's unveiling, the Postmaster General, Arthur Summerfield declared "The American people have great reason to be indebted to this industry. It has supplied most of the power that has made the American standard of living possible." Attitudes to the oil industry have changed greatly since those heady days.

for technology and industry

4 comments:

Bob Scotney said...

I am amazed that this is the only US stamp on the oil industry.

Joy said...

Made me wonder how many times north sea oil has appeared on UK stamps in the past, certainly a lot more than once.

FinnBadger said...

Fascinating that this is the only time oil has been featured.

Mail Adventures said...

Amazing design. As amazing, as fellows have written, that there aren't *hundreds* of stamps dedicated to this topic.